Movies, TV, and Games – News and Reviews – Opinions and Reflections

The Academy Awards are upon us once again. It’s easy to be cynical about the Oscars, whether it’s because your favourite films never win or because of the endless campaigning, or because it’s, or because of the whole “rich people giving each other statues” thing, but I still kinda like them.

This year the nominees are mostly good, so here they all are along with some thoughts, opinions, and a prediction or two.

The Oscars are being held on the 26th of February. Join us on the day for our 6th annual liveblog of the ceremony!

Best Foreign Language Film

Land of Mine

A Man Called Ove

The Salesman

Tanna

Toni Erdmann

One of the categories that I never see enough of the nominees in and this year is no different. Let’s guess that Toni Erdmann will take it though, because everyone seems to love it.

Best Animated Feature

Kubo and the Two Strings

Moana

My Life as a Zucchini

The Red Turtle

Zootopia

This year the animated feature race is as good as it has ever been. Zootopia is probably the front runner but I sincerely hope that Kubo and the Two Strings takes home the statue. They both have great messages, they’re both well acted, they’re both just gorgeous, but Kubo is the one that resonates for me, even if it’s not as much fun.

Best Documentary Feature

Fire at Sea

I Am Not Your Negro

Life, Animated

O.J.: Made in America

13th

I know it’s been the toast of the town but I still don’t get how O.J.: Made in America is a feature. It’s fantastic, but it’s a TV series?

Anyway, 13th is fantastic and should win.

Best Documentary Short

Extremis

4.1 Miles

Joe’s Violin

Watani: My Homeland

The White Helmets

There are so few chances to actually see these and as a result I have no seen any of them. I’m gonna guess The White Helmets though, since those folks do great work.

Best Animated Short

Blind Vaysha

Borrowed Time

Pear Cider and Cigarettes

Pearl

Piper

I don’t see how anything other than Piper could take this.

Best Live-Action Short

Ennemis Interieurs

La Femme et le TGV

Silent Nights

Sing

Timecode

Another one I haven’t seen any of, so I don’t have a horse in this race.

Best Visual Effects

Deepwater Horizon

Doctor Strange

The Jungle Book

Kubo and the Two Strings

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

it’s simultaneously awesome and weird that an animated film could make it into the visual effects category, but given the blend of stop motion characters photographed against green screens to add CG backgrounds, it seems warranted.

That said, the crazy world bending effects of Doctor Strange are my choice here. Rogue One has some fantastic shots too, in fact one of the best space battles I’ve seen, but I think Strange did the best integration of live action and CG of the two and that counts a bit higher for me.

Best Sound Editing

Arrival

Deepwater Horizon

Hacksaw Ridge

La La Land

Sully

I hope Arrival wins because I think it should win a bunch of awards, but probably La La Land will win this (and deservedly so).

Best Sound Mixing

Arrival

Hacksaw Ridge

La La Land

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

13 Hours

La La Land again. I mean, it makes sense that the musical will win the sound awards.

Best Original Score

Jackie

La La Land

Lion

Moonlight

Passengers

Everyone talks about the songs in La La Land but the score is also fantastic.

Best Original Song

“Audition,” La La Land

“Can’t Stop the Feeling,” Trolls

“City of Stars,” La La Land

“The Empty Chair,” Jim: The James Foley Story

“How Far I’ll Go,” Moana

First off, let’s just talk about how “I’m So Humble” from Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, “Drive It Like You Stole It” from Sing Street, and “Montage” from Swiss Army Man all aren’t nominated. They’re all great songs, and it would be amazing to see any of them –let alone all of them– be staged.

That said, it’s gonna be one of the La La Land songs, and if it is I hope it’s “Audition”. “City of Stars” is great but Audition is not only more powerful, it’s effectively an ode to Hollywood itself and Hollywood sure does love odes to itself.

This is slightly upsetting though, since it’ll put off Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Oscar by at least a year, and it’s the only one he doesn’t have (and he deserves them all).

Best Production Design

Arrival

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Hail, Caesar!

La La Land

Passengers

Hail, Caesar! has scenes from a musical, a water ballet, a swords and sandals epic, a western, and it s pitch perfect recreation of the 50s themselves. It’s tailor made for this category. Also, it’s a great film and deserves a win.

Best Costume Design

Allied

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Florence Foster Jenkins

Jackie

La La Land

I have no idea, La La Land because the costumes are homages to other musicals?

Best Make-up and Hairstyling

A Man Called Ove

Star Trek Beyond

Suicide Squad

Star Trek Beyond should win this because the makeup and hairstyling is fantastic, and because I can’t quite stand the sound of the sentence “Academy Award winning film Suicide Squad“. Then again, I haven’t seen A Man Called Ove, maybe it blows them away? Still. Star Trek, because Star Trek.

Best Film Editing

Arrival

Hacksaw Ridge

Hell or High Water

La La Land

Moonlight

Arrival, because it probably won’t win best picture, but like Mad Max: Fury Road last year could take home all the awards that let you know it was actually the best picture.

Best Cinematography

Arrival

La La Land

Lion

Moonlight

Silence

Arrival again, for the same reasons, but also because it’s beautifully shot.

Best Original Screenplay

Taylor Sheridan, Hell or High Water

Damien Chazelle, La La Land

Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthymis Filippou, The Lobster

Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea

Mike Mills, 20th Century Women

There are so many good films this year, but I’d like to see Hell or High Water win this one because it’s hell of a movie with a hell of a screenplay. It’s also a great movie with very little chance of winning best picture, and those are the types of movies that tend to win the screenplay awards.

That said, if The Lobster takes this one home I’ll be a very happy man.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Eric Heisserer, Arrival

August Wilson, Fences

Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi, Hidden Figures

Luke Davies, Lion

Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McRaney, Moonlight

Let’s go with Arrival again, because it’s fantastically told.

Best Supporting Actress

Viola Davis, Fences

Naomie Harris, Moonlight

Nicole Kidman, Lion

Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures

Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea

This is Viola Davis’s award to lose, right? She is but all accounts fantastic in it. Second choice would be Naomie Harris as she is just heartbreaking in Moonlight.

Best Supporting Actor

Mahershala Ali, Moonlight

Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water

Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea

Dev Patel, Lion

Michael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals

Mahershala Ali is amazing in Moonlight and this is his to lose as well. My second choice would be Lucas Hedges in Manchester by the Sea. Casey Affleck is getting all the press, but Hedges is also fantastic. Both of their performances as men working through their grief are essential.

Best Actress

Isabelle Huppert, Elle

Ruth Negga, Loving

Natalie Portman, Jackie

Emma Stone, La La Land

Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins

This category is stacked with 4 amazing nominees but for once I wish the Academy would suspend their “we must nominate Meryl Streep if she was in a movie” by-law. There’s no excuse for her to be in this category and for Amy Adams to not be. Florence Foster Jenkins quality is debatable, but Arrival is a straight up masterpiece and that’s largely due to Adams performance.

At the end of the day though, Emma Stone should win this. She’s transcendant in La La Land, and I’m not sure the movie would be as good without her in it. Second choice would be Natalie Portman, who perfectly captures not only Jackie Kennedy but also a woman trying to impose order on a world made chaos. She is stunning.

Best Actor

Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea

Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge

Ryan Gosling, La La Land

Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic

Denzel Washington, Fences

Another tough one. Casey Affleck won the Golden Globe, but Denzel won the SAG Award. I loved Ryan Gosling in La La Land, but it feels like despite his Golden Globe he doesn’t quite have the momentum behind him to win.

I’d actually really like to see Viggo Mortensen take it home for Captain Fantastic though. His performance is both bold and subtle, and it’s great to see a small scale picture get nominated among all the studio campaigning.

Casey Affleck is my second choice though. His performance is raw, and gut wrenching, and real.

Best Director

Denis Villeneuve, Arrival

Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge

Damien Chazelle, La La Land

Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea

Barry Jenkins, Moonlight

Another tough one. Of the four good choices there is case to be made for each one. For a start, they’re all masterpieces in their own rights. The smartest and most heartfelt SciFi in years, a treatise on grief and guilt, an homage to the musicals of old, and an examination of what it’s like to be black and queer in the American south.

I think that Damien Chazelle might win this one, but I hope that Barry Jenkins does. I just called four films masterpieces, but Moonlight is a nearly perfectly crafted masterpiece. La La Land is a great movie that speaks to Hollywood, but Moonlight is by far the more important film, and Barry Jenkins wastes not a single frame in telling it’s story.

Best Picture

Arrival

Fences

Hacksaw Ridge

Hell or High Water

Hidden Figures

La La Land

Lion

Manchester by the Sea

Moonlight

Much of what I just said about the director choices applies here as well. La La Land may well win the day, but Moonlight is the more deserving film. It’s perfectly crafted, and it’s an examination of what it means to be black and queer in American society. Beautiful and heartbreaking and affirming all at once, Moonlight is the film that should win best picture, and I say this as a person who loved La La Land.